I have to say I’m shocked this would even be asked. Would I? No. I wouldn’t give it out to my friends, why would I give it out to an employer? If they asked to be ‘friended’ so they could see my public face, I would be ok with that. But asking for my password? No. Talk to my former employers, sure, talk to my references, absolutely but you can’t have my password. That is, and always should be, private.

Thoughts?

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About Joe Cummings

Aquarius. Traveler. Gamer. Writer. A New Parent.
4 of these things are easy. One is not.
But the journey is that much better for the new people in my life. A life I want to share with others, to help them, maybe, to make them feel less alone, sure, to connect with the greater world, absolutely.

Are some potential employers actually doing this? If so, it won’t be long before it’s outlawed. A potential employer cannot ask to see one’s medical or financial records, so this would have to be out. Of course there are ways around such bans.
This raises what I consider an important issue: the whole concept of on-line presences. It seems that nowadays, most people looking for well paying, particularly professional, jobs are almost expected to have a web presence. I’ve read career consultants virtually insist that job seekers create a presence in order to sell themselves better. I know that getting hired has always been much more who-one-knows than what-one-knows, but this sort of disgusts me. It’s another further piece of discrimination against introverts, or, in this case, people that are simply not extroverts. Moreover, if enough people start creating Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and blogs and web pages etc. simply to make themselves better job candidates then the value of those digital sources will drop, since employers will know that what they’re reading is all carefully crafted image-making. Of course a few idiots will be uncovered, but is a Facebook page any more reliable than a c.v.??